Free Agents Ratings

February 13, 1998|DAVID O'BRIEN

More bucks than bang?

1. Jay Bell, Diamondbacks (five years, $34 million): Shockwaves rumbled throught the desert when these figures were announced. Bell parlayed a career-best season (.291, 21 HRs, 92 RBI) into lifetime security. Keep in mind, he's 32 and he batted just .250 with 13 HRs in 1996 and .262 with 13 HRs in 1995.

2. Wilson Alvarez, Devil Rays (five years, $35 million): Managed to land the same contract as former White Sox teammate Alex Fernandez the year before, though he wasn't nearly the pitcher that Fernandez was in Chicago. Alvarez has never won more than 15 games and has gone 36-33 over the past three seasons.

3. Darryl Kile, Rockies (three years, $24 million): While Colorado is busy patting itself on the back for finally landing a top pitcher, consider that Kile was 25-29 with a 4.50 ERA in a three-year span before his career-best 19-7, 2.57 ERA season. Also, his curveball won't break as much in Coors Field.

4. Tom Candiotti, Athletics (two years, $6.35 million): The 40-year-old knuckleball specialist was 52-64 in six years with the Dodgers, and his 10-7 record marked his first winning season in the 1990s. That says all you need to know about the value of pitching on today's market.

1. Rickey Henderson, Athletics (one year, $1.1 million): Incentives could push the total to $2 million, but that's still a bargain for a leadoff man who had a .400 on-base average, 84 runs and 45 stolen bases. So what if he's 39?

2. Pete Harnisch, Reds (one year, $300,000): Missed most of last season while dealing with depression, then was traded from Mets to Brewers, who later released him. Harnisch pitched 194 innings in 1996 and he's still only 31.

3. Sean Berry, Astros (one year, $1.1 million): His price is low because he's coming back from surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, an injury that slowed him last season when he lost the third-base job to Bill Spiers.